ST Looks Back

25 Years Ago1987. The U.S. Geological Survey began its first systematic mapping of the deepwater seafloor off the East Coast from Florida to Maine aboard the chartered RV Farnella. ... Marconi Underwater Systems Ltd. launched its side scan sonar GLORIA (Geological Long-Range Inclined Asdic), which could survey up to 20,000 square kilometers a day when towed at 8 knots. ... The Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution acquired a new navigation tool called ALLNAV, which integrated data from an ultrashort baseline acoustic tracking system, a Loran C receiver and a support ship's gyro compass.

15 Years Ago1997. TOBI, a side scan sonar system, completed a survey at 200 to 1,500 meters' depth, covering an area the size of Wales in 35 days. Funded by a consortium of 14 oil companies, the Southampton Oceanography Centre towed TOBI from the RSS Charles Darwin for 304 hours without break. ... Noble Drilling entered into an agreement with Shell Deepwater Development Inc. to convert a submersible to a deepwater drilling unit capable of drilling in water depths up to 6,000 feet for work in the Gulf of Mexico. ... Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. launched the deep-sea RV Kairei for geographic and biological surveying. Kairei was to act as a mother ship for the unmanned vehicle Kaiko.

Sea Technology is
read worldwide in more than 110 countries by management, engineers,
scientists and technical personnel working in industry, government
and educational research institutions. Readers are involved with
oceanographic research, fisheries management, offshore oil and gas
exploration and production, undersea defense including antisubmarine
warfare, ocean mining and commercial diving.